great depression

• Characteristics of The Great Depression

  • Failure of Hoover's presidency
  • Stock Market crash
  • Unemployment
• Causes of the Great Depression


  • Stock Market Speculation
  • Overproduction
  • Tariffs on World Trade
  • Monetary Policy of Federal Reserve
  • Bank Failures
• Stock Market Speculation


  Quickly buying and selling stocks to make quick profits, Inflated the stock prices
• Overproduction


  Supply exceeds demand, Customers couldn't buy all that was produced
• Tariffs on World Trade


  Taxes on international products, Tariffs caused retaliation from other countries
• Monetary Policy of Federal Reserve

  Action taken by central bank to regulate economic activity, Failure to intervene in banking crisis
• Bank Failures


  Banks fail to meet obligations, Depositors withdrew funds
• Societal Impact of the Great Depression

  • Unemployment
  • Soup kitchens and breadlines opened up to feed the unemployed
  • Families starved and went without basic necessities
  • Children dropped out of school, many were malnourished
• Dust Bowl: Impact


  • Soil erosion and droughts
  • Dust storms
  • Loss of wildlife
  • Migration to unaffected areas
  • Poverty and bankruptcy
• Rugged individualism


  Pull yourself up by the bootstraps, Hoover thought government initiative would undermine citizen efforts
• Reconstruction Finance Corporation


  RFC meant to help people affected by the Great Depression, ended up helping only large corporations
• Hoovervilles


  A town built by the homeless, named after Hoover to highlight his failures
• The Three R's of the New Deal

  • Relief
  • Recovery
  • Reform
• Relief


  Programs to provide immediate assistance to citizens affected by the Great Depression
• Relief programs


  • CCC - put out Reforestation programs
  • WPA - Employed unemployed individuals
• Recovery


  Programs to stabilize and restore the economy
• Recovery programs


  • Priming the Pump - Increased government spending and investment
  • AAA - Increased income of farmers
  • NRA - Set minimum wages and maximum hours for industrial workers
• Reform


  Legislation to monitor the stock market
• Reform programs


  • TVA - Built 21 government dams to control floods
  • Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation - insured bank deposits so that people would not lose their savings in the event of a bank failure
  • Securities & Exchange Commission - watch over the stock market, prevent fraud, and guard against another stock market collapse
  • Social Security Administration - gave workers unemployment insurance, old age pensions, and insurance
• Huey Long


  Louisiana politician, wanted to share the wealth and tax the wealthy, pressured FDR to create the New Deal
• Supreme Court


  Opposed many New Deal laws
• Court Packing Scheme


  FDR proposed to add more justices to the supreme court
• Relationship between the three branches of government


  Executive branch was given more power because of FDR, checks and balances, supreme court challenged FDR's proposals
• Role of the state and federal government

  Federal government lead the new deal, cooperation between federal and state governments
• Welfare State


  New Deal started the idea of a welfare state, financial assistance from government
• Characteristics of The Twenties

  • Industrialization
  • Motorized cars
  • Flappers, cabarets
• Economic Growth & Prosperity


  How did each of the following cause economic growth and prosperity in the 1920s?
• Return to Normalcy & Laissez-faire


  • Businesses operated with fewer restrictions
• Reduced Taxes


  • More disposable income for the masses
• Increased production efficiencies (assembly line)

  • Faster production at a lower cost
• Automobile


  • Commute became efficient
• Consumerism


  • Increased spending
• Significant Events and Social Issues of the 1920s

  • Immigration
  • Nativism
  • Red Scare
  • Social Darwinism
  • Eugenics
  • Race Relations
  • Prohibition
  • Changing Role of Women
• Effect of Immigration

  Job opportunities in the West
• Effect of Immigration

  Diverse communities, labor competition
• Cause of Nativism

  Influx of immigrants
• Effect of Nativism

  Anti-immigration policies
• Cause of Red Scare

  Russian Revolution
• Effect of Red Scare

  Mass anti-communist hysteria
• Cause of Social Darwinism

  Belief in White supremacy